Dongguan's Municipal Bureau of Statistics released the 6th National Population Census figures confirming that as of 12am 1st November 2010, Dongguan's permanent population reached 8,220,237. Compared with the 6,445,700 permanent residents recorded by the 5th National Population Census in 2000, this is a 27.53% increase, giving an average annual increase of 2.46%.

According to officials from the city's Population Census Office, at least 6.3 million of the permanent population are migrant residents. Therefore, the greatest increase in the permanent population is due to an influx of migrant workers, which seems to correlate with the urban development of Dongguan.

The population figures also show that 7.35 million people (89.49 % of the population) are aged between 15 and 64, an increase of 0.17% since the last National Population Census. Those aged 65 and above only account for 2.26% of the total population, which is still far from the international standard for an aging society.

According to the statistics, the permanent populations of Chang'an Township, Humen Township, Dongcheng District and Tangxia Township are 664,000, 638,000, 492,000 and 482,000 respectively, making them the top four in Dongguan. Following closely are Houjie and Changping with populations of 438,000 and 418,000 respectively. These results confirm the already widely held belief that most people in Dongguan live in townships, especially developed ones. Actually the top five townships and districts of Humen, Chang'an, Dongcheng, Tangxia and Houjie are also top in terms of GDP last year, respectively 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th place.

"The 6th National Population Census also conducted a registration of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan citizens, as well as foreign citizens from other countries living and working in Dongguan. These statistics have not yet been released," said Ye Liqiang, the Vice Director of Dongguan's Municipal Bureau of Statistics.